


Dripping Like A Saturated Sunrise

by AU_Ruler



Series: faded colours and stars [1]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Constellation AU, Episode: s01e22 The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!, Gen, Implied Character Death, Whumptober 2020, broken trust, della duck constellation au, no.12, very background dellene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26977846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AU_Ruler/pseuds/AU_Ruler
Summary: Della was gone by the time Donald arrived
Series: faded colours and stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968796
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Dripping Like A Saturated Sunrise

There was a numbness. Like ice covered his skin, seeping into every pore until it was all he knew. The anger set. A burning inferno from his heart outward. Heating the ice, making it melt. Helping it crawl faster and faster through his veins. In the moment it was far easier to focus on the fire than the ice.

“How could you?” Donald demanded of his uncle.

His sister had been on the screen when he walked in looking for her, triplets with him in their carriage. Now the only thing on the screen were words. Red and flashing. Almost like they were mocking him. Transmission lost.

_ You couldn’t protect her _

Transmission lost.

_ You couldn’t do  _ **_anything_ **

Transmission lost

_ you failed _

The grip he had on the carriage’s handle tightened. Beneath his feathers, his knuckles were white. Uncle Scrooge didn't say anything to him. Just watched the screen flash. Bile rose in Donald's throat. Thick and heavy. “I  _ told _ her not to make the rocket! I  _ told _ her it was too dangerous! But you just had to do it, didn't you?! The great Scrooge McDuck who knows everything and never once considers the repercussions of his actions!” Donald yelled. His voice felt broken. It sounded difficult to understand even to his own ears.

Donald was the older twin. He was  _ supposed _ to protect her. Yet Scrooge couldn't even let him do that. No. He just had to build that damn rocket. He should have stopped them both. His emotions ran higher. Vicious and cruel. “ _ You killed her _ !” He yelled, but he wasn't sure if it was at his uncle or himself. Scrooge flinched. It was the first indicator Donald had that he'd heard anything at all. Still, Scrooge didn't look at him. He swallowed heavily. It did nothing against the flood of emotions and neither did the breath he took.

There was only one thing he could do. He turned away from Scrooge, pushing the carriage ahead of him and toward his car.

The tears didn't start till he sat in the drivers seat.

  
  


He cut off everything in his life dealing with Scrooge. Erased him completely. He tore the pages with Scrooge from the scrapbook, doing the best he could with the ones Della were in. Heart clenching and anger simmering with every rip. And then he hid it. Far from where anyone would ever look. Promising himself he'd never tell the triplets who he was. Never let the triplets know of their lineage. All the while knowing Della wouldn't want that.

But that didn't matter. Not anymore. Because Della was dead. Della was dead and it was  _ all  _ **_his_ ** _ fault _ .

Scrooge’s fault

~~His fault~~

_ Scrooge’s _

__ fault

Between the three of them, he'd always been the more sensible adventurer. The one who tried to keep them safe. The one who sighed as they did something anyway and who helped patch them up when it ultimately proved to be unsafe. All the years of adventuring. And Scrooge couldn't trust him this  _ once _ that something wasn't safe. Instead he was right with Della. Assuming she was indestructible.

Honestly? Sometimes it was hard for Donald not to fall to the same trap. Della constantly got into trouble.  _ Constantly _ . A broken bone here. Sprained wrist and scraped knees there. But it never held her down. She never gave up. It just wasn't the Della Duck way.

It wasn't the McDuck clan way, either. That's why she decided to go into space.

Despite Donald telling her it wasn't a good idea. Not with three eggs just a week from hatching. But she was stubborn. The stars were something she'd looked to since they were children. Little,  _ little _ children. They were a wonder. Something she reached out for, her hands stretching more and more as she got older.

It just got worse after they went to Ithaquack that first time and she met Selene

The goddess of the moon showed her the constellations in her orb. Taught her their names and their true stories. When they married, the goddess promised her them. Every star that made up the galaxies.

But Della was impatient. She’d always been.

She started the rocket plans in secret. Not telling her wife. Not telling him. Believing she was invincible- _I'm_ _the invincible Della Duck!_ \- ignoring him once he’d found out.

But Donald had been right. And now he had to raise three children. Without his indestructible sister. Donald pushed back a whimper and curled closer around the three eggs pressed against his feathers.

Without his unshakable uncle.


End file.
